20 Spongy Years : A World without SpongeBob
by Boolia
Summary: While walking Gary home from his 20th anniversary working at the Krusty Krab, SpongeBob is then taken by a diver to land. Can Gary and all of his friends rescue him before it's too late? 20th anniversary special.
1. Chapter 1

20 Spongy Years: A World without SpongeBob

1999-2019

Chapter One

SpongeBob

I jumped out of bed in the morning, turning off my blaring alarm clock.

"It's another beautiful day in Bikini Bottom, Gary!" I announced. "And another exciting day at my favorite underwater eatery, the Krusty Krab!" I laughed at this. "I have to say that, but glad I'm not forced to, because it's true, it's 100% true! Okay, Gary, it's time for your morning grub." I looked at where Gary sleeps, but he wasn't there. "Gary?" I looked around. "Gary, where are you, boy? Gary!" I looked around the whole room, including under the bed. But my mollusk friend wasn't in sight. I pondered about this. Hmmmm, where could he possibly be? I snapped my fingers when in an idea struck me.

Of course! Gary must be really eager that he went down for breakfast already! Can't say I wouldn't blame him. I called down to my pet. "I'm coming, Gary!" I went downstairs.

"Okay, Gary." I said once I got downstairs, and went into the kitchen. "I know you're eager to eat your breakfast, but you can't open it without me. You tried to open a can last time, but you got everything messy, remember? We wouldn't want a repeat of that. Gary?" I shrugged. I'm sure he'll come running once he smells his snail food. I opened the Snailpo can, and poured it into his dish. I called to him again.

"GARY; BREAKFAST!" I waited, and waited, and waited. "GARY!" I decided to look around, and kept repeating my pet's name over and over, in hopes he'll come. He did not.

I checked my whole house five times, but didn't find him. Hmmm, if Gary doesn't come soon, I'll be late for work. I looked at my watch, and gasped. I only had eleven minutes until the restaurant opens. But I can't go to work when Gary's missing. As much as I love the Krusty Krab, I love my pet more. I have to call Mr. Krabs, and tell him I can't go to work, not yet. He has two pets of his own, so I'm sure he'll understand my situation. I walked off to the phone.

"Hello, Mr. Krabs." I greeted him on the phone.

"SpongeBob!" Mr. Krabs said angrily on the other end. "Where are you? It's almost time to open, and I need my fry cook! Squidward's here, and he often gets here after you. What's the holdup?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Krabs, but I can't come to work." I had to hold back the phone, for he shouted too loud.

"WHAT?!" I placed the phone by my ear again. "What do you mean?"

"Maybe later, but Gary's missing. I searched everywhere, and can't find him anywhere."

"Aww; Gary's missing?"

"Yeah.

"Remind me who Gary is. Is he your second cousin?"

"No, my pet snail, Gary. I'm sure you two met before."

"Oh, yes, Gary! I remember him. Gosh, I'm sorry he's missing. If Pearl went missing, I know I won't want to come to work either until I know she's safe and sound."

"So you know how I feel, and going to accept my absence?" I again had to hold my phone back.

"NO! YOU COME TO WORK NOW, SPONGEBOB! TIME IS MONEY!"

"But..."

"NOW! A daughter is much more important then a pet; a daughter's family."

"So is Gar..."

"NOW OR YOU'RE FIRED!" I sighed sadly, not wanting to argue any further. What was the point?

"Yes, sir." I hung up, and went outside, possibly for the first time, dreading to go to work.

When I got to work, the whole eatery was empty and dark. What the? I just called Mr. Krabs. He and Squidward should be here, along with all the hungry customers. Where are they? I opened up.

"Hello? Mr. Krabs, Squidward? Where is everyone?" The lights then came on.

"SURPRISE!" Mr. Krabs, and all of my friends beside Squidward shouted. Sandy pushed a button, and confetti exploded everywhere. Almost everyone I knew was there, even folks I didn't know, and Gary."

"Meow." My pet meowed, blowing on a noisemaker.

"What is all this?" I asked. I then saw a banner colored like my spongy body 'Happy 20th, SpongeBob' it read. I couldn't believe it. "Is this all for me?"

"Yeah." Sandy stated. "At least that's what the banner says."

"They say it's for you, SpongeBob." Patrick put in. "It could be for another SpongeBob. If that's true, then we wasted our time. I don't know any other SpongeBobs, do you?" He looked at everybody else. "Do any of you guys know any other SpongeBobs? Am I the only Patrick?" I was excited, then I was confused.

"Guys, I'm flattered that you did all of this, plus kidnapping Gary, for me, but why? It's not my birthday, and I'm older then 20."

"Don't you remember what today is, boyo?" Mr. Krabs asked.

"Uh, May 1st?"

"But do you know what happened 20 years ago today? Something special?" Squidward muttered something that I couldn't hear. I shrugged.

"Uh, sorry, guys. You're going to have to just tell me. I have no idea."

"Today, 20 years ago, is when you first started working for me here." Mr. Krabs told me. I got amused by this.

"Oooh, that's today? Gosh, 20 years? It feels just yesterday when I almost died from that fake heart attack." Squidward muttered something else that I didn't hear.

"It was yesterday, SpongeBob." Patrick said. "Remember? I remember like it was yesterday because it was."

"No it wasn't, Patrick." Sandy said. Patrick turned to her, confused.

"It wasn't? Gosh, time sure does fly fast. I don't get that. How does time fly? It's not real, and doesn't have wings." He shrugged, "Oh well!"

"So, when does the party start?" I wanted to know. "Did you close the Krusty Krab just for the occasion."

"No." Mr. Krabs stated. "I would never do that. Are you crazy?"

"He's not crazy." Patrick said. "He's SpongeBob."

"Anyways, the party starts tonight here after work."

"Then why did you invite all of these people?"

"To surprise you."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense."

"You bet it does! Now you and Squidward, GET TO WORK!" He looked at everyone else. "And for the rest of you, get out of here unless you're getting food." Everyone that wasn't staying began to leave.

"I'll take Gary home." Sandy offered.

"Thanks, Sandy." I said to her as she and my snail left. I looked at Gary, glad that he was okay. I then went to my work station.

I kept looking at the clock all day, hoping that the hand will go faster, so it can be the end of the day and party time! But no matter how many times I have looked at the clock, secretly wishing for the time to go faster, it moved in a snail's pace.

Then, finally, I was mopping the floor up front, I looked at the clock again, and just as I did, the minute hand moved to '12.' I looked at the hour hand, it was on the '8.' I beamed. 8:00pm, closing time! I cheered as I dropped the mop onto the floor. Squidward was also cheering.

"And I am out of here!" He got out of his boat, and walked away. "Bye, SpongeBob! Bye, Mr. Kraaaaabbbbbbbbs!" He screamed as he slipped, and fell to the floor. I looked over him.

"Sorry, Squidward." I apologized. "I was mopping there, and guess I was so excited, that I stopped a bit early." Squidward moaned. "Also, we're supposed to have a party for my 20th anniversary of me working here, remember?"

"Oh, yeah." He said. "How on earth could I forget that?" I helped him up.

"Don't worry, Sqiddy, at least I helped you remember it before it was too late, right?"

"Right; I do not want to miss the party!" He said that in a deadpan manner. I do not know why though. I thought he'd be more excited. Oh well. I'm sure he'll be more excited during the party.

"Darn right, you don't! This is going to be the best party ever!"

"Oh boy, I can't wait!" Again, I don't know why he said It in a deadpan manner.

"Man, it is that time already?" Mr. Krabs asked as he came out of his office, looking at the clock.

"It sure is, Mr. Krabs." I answered. "Isn't it great?"

"For you it's great, are you ready?"

"You bet I am!" He looked at the floor.

"Continue cleaning the floor, and it'll start before you know it!" I saluted.

"Yes, sir!"

"But if we're having a party here, why is SpongeBob mopping? Won't sea folk slip and hurt themselves while they'e dancing or something?" Mr. Krabs thought of this.

"Good point. I don't want to be sued again. We'll tape this off when the party begins, and as soon as it dries, remove it." He left. And with that, I resumed on mopping.

"Okay, Mr. Krabs," I said after I put my mop and bucket away in the supplies closet, and taped it off. "I'm don..." I was awestruck by all the critters and fish folk that showed up. Sandy even brought Gary back, and had him on a leash. "Wow!" When I went to the supply closet, the restaurant was almost empty, now it was the complete opposite!

I scanned the room, and my eyes stopped on two familiar idols of mine. It was Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy! I ran up to them.

"Hey, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy!" I greeted. They looked at me. "What are you two doing here?"

"We're here for the party." Barnacle Boy answered.

"And to stop evil if it comes!" Mermaid Man added. Barnacle Boy sighed.

"Yes, that too, but hopefully evil never comes, and we can enjoy the party."

"Oh, you can never be too sure, Barnacle Boy. Evil could be lurking in the shadows, ready to strike at any given moment."

"Uh-huh!" He looked back at me. "Anyways, we were invited, and decided to stop by. We can't stay too late. We have to be back at Shady Shoals at 10."

"Well, it's great to have you both. I'll see you soon. I'm going to talk to some other sea folk." And so that is what I did. I walked on.

Next, I saw Fred...and his girlfriend, the nurse from the hospital. I was shocked to see them both.

"Fred, you here for the party? I thought you'd be in the hospital; no offense."

"No offense taken." He spoke. "I'm on a date with my lady, first date to be precise. This is one of the nights she has off, so I thought why not go to your party?" I smiled. I was truly honored. I don't know Fred that well, and to think he picked here of all places, to take his special lady for their first official date.

"Well you two have fun." I told them. "Fred, and..."

"Bazooka." She answered.

"Do you have a name Nurse Bazooka?"

"Yeah, I do. It's..." She was about to say it when the DJ spoke into the mike up front behind a stereo system.

"Goooooooddddddd evening Bikini Bittomites!" He boomed into the mike. Everyone quietted down, and looked at him. "My name is PJ DJ, and despite my name. I hate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and is deadly allergic to them, so don't ever feed me one, or be near me with one whatever you do. Are you ready to have a fun time tonight?"

"YES!" Everyone all said at once

"Then let's do it!" Everyone cheered. He looked at me. "Oh, and happy 20th anniversary of working here, SpongeBob!" I was shocked again. He knows me? Mr. Krabs probably told him, but yay, I'm famous! This is my day; I felt so special! I also thought his name was a little funny. His last name was DJ, and he's a DJ, and his first name is PJ? That's hilarious and ironic at the same time!

Anyways, all joking aside, music started blaring from the speakers, and everyone started dancing to the music. Fred and Nurse Bazooka looked back at me.

"If you don't mind, SpongeBob," Fred began. "I'm going to start dancing with my girl."

"Go ahead you two love sea birds." I said to them both. "Just don't break your leg. Don't go beyond the tape."

"I don't need to." Fred answered. "Not with Nurse Bazooka here." Bazooka blushed.

"Oh, you!" She said. Fred smiled.

"Yeah, me." I stepped aside as the two moved to the dance floor. Sandy and Patrick then went to my side.

"Well, SpongeBob," Sandy started. "What do you think of all this?"

"Are you kidding?" I asked. "I love it!" Sandy smiled.

"Figured you would."

"Can we stop talking, and dance already?!" Patrick whined "I want to show off my moves!" I laughed.

"Sure thing, buddy!" I agreed,

"And in a short while," Sandy put in. "I have a surprise for you, SpongeBob." I became interested in this.

"Ooh, a surprise? Aw, but why did you have to say it now, now I won't be able to concentrate on dancing!"

"You will because you're going to get lost in the music." Patrick said to me. "I hope not too lost, because that'll be sad because then you can't..." He covered his mouth. "Oops; almost ruined the surprise. That wouldn't be good. Now let me shut up, and we can dance." With that, Patrick took my hand, and we two walked to the dance floor, followed by Sandy.

A bit into our dancing, Sandy said something to me. I leaned in to try to hear.

"What?" I asked. "Sandy; you have to speak up! I can't hear you." She tried again. "What? The music's too loud!"

"I said I'm going to get your surprise now!" She shouted. I gave her a thumbs up.

"Sounds good!" I said back. "Can't wait!" And with that, she went off.

A few minutes later, Patrick spoke. Once again, I couldn't hear.

"What?" He tried again. "Speak louder, Pat, I can't hear!"

"I said you'll love the surprise." He stated.

"Oh, I know I will."

"You will?" He then looked disappointed as he stopped dancing. "Aw, man, you know the surprise already?" I shook my head. He was confused. "Then how do you know?"

"I know cause I know."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense I guess."

"You bet it does, now let's continue dancing until my surprise gets here!"

"Sounds good to me!" And so, we continued on dancing.

"SpongeBob!" Sandy said running to me. Patrick and I stopped dancing, and looked at her. "Your surprise is ready."

"Really?" I asked. Sandy nodded.

"Yup!"

"Well, where is it?" Sandy handed me a blue blindfold. "Is this it?"

"No, it's outside. I need you to..." I got excited.

"Oh, boy, is it a boat? You know, hard to believe, I can drive flawlessly when I have one of these over my eyes." This time I heard Mrs. Puff mutter something that I couldn't hear.

"No." Sandy replied. "Now, as I was saying, I need you to wear it over your eyes, so I can lead you to it."

"Okay!" I put on the blindfolds. "Lead me away, Sandy, but don't tell me. I want to be surprised." I then laughed to myself. "Of course you won't tell me. You want it to be a surprise. Silly me!" Patrick laughed too, and said he didn't get it. I felt a hand grabbing mine.

"Okay, SpongeBob." It was Sandy. "I'm taking you to your surprise now." She led me away.

"Okay," She said as I felt her releasing me. "You can look now." I removed it. "Ta-da! What do you think?" I looked, and was in awe. It was like Sandy's tree dome, only it wasn't, and there were jellyfish inside. "Since you like to jellyfish, I thought to build this. Now you can show us how's it done."

"I love it, Sandy!"

"I knew you would."

"I knew he would too." Patrick spoke up, and somebody, I think Mr. Krabs, shushed him.

"You know what's weird? I had a dream Patrick and I built a dome like this once in an unfamiliar territory. Or was that real?" I shrugged. "I have no inkling, Anyways, you were there. Along with Mr. Krabs and Squidward." Squidward muttered something again. "Gary was there for a bit too, but then he went off to who knows where."

"That's an interesting dream, but anyways, you can go in there, and jellyfish to your heart's content, go back in and dance, or both. A lot of people can't fit though, so be aware of that."

"Duly noted. Now, who wants to jellyfish with me? Any takers? Sandy, since you build this, how about you go in there with me first?"

"I'd love to."

After I jellyfished for a bit, each with a friend, I went back inside to dance some more, and had more punch and snacks.

Then it was cake time! Mr. Krabs presented me with a cake shaped like a jellyfish. There were lit candles on it, circling the number '20' on it.

"Make a wish." Larry the Lobster said to me. I thought of a wish, and blew out the candles. Everyone cheered.

"What did you wish for, SpongeBob?" Patrick wanted to know.

"I can't say or it won't come true." My friend was confused.

"Why?" I shrugged.

"I honestly don't know."

"It's stupid." Squidward said. "You can say it, and if it comes true or not, it all depends on fate, not because you said it out loud." I saw Mr. Krabs nudged him.

"Be nice, Mr. Squidward." He said through clenched teeth.

"Whatever. Say your wish. Don't say it. I don't care."

"I can't say my wish." I spoke again. "But I think it's going to come true." Mr. Krabs pulled out a knife, as he cut into the cake.

"Now, who wants some?" He asked. Everyone cheered. "One dollar per slice." Everyone groaned. "Hey, you know me! You want it? You have to earn it!" People pulled out their dollars from their wallets. "Now, you all get me!"

"That was a great party, Mr. Krabs!" I told him after the party. I had Gary on a leash beside me. Mr. Krabs turned to me.

"I'm glad you liked it." Mr. Krabs said. "Now here's to another 20 years, and beyond what would you say, lad?" I cheered.

"I'll work here until the day I die, Mr. Krabs!" My boss smiled.

"Glad to here it, boy. Now get some rest, and see you in the morning." I saluted.

"Yes, sir!" Squidward sounded less thrilled.

"What?" He questioned. "But it's almost one me in the morning, and we still have to work?" Mr. Krabs was irritated by this.

"Well, it isn't my fault that you partied all night."

"Yes, it is! I wanted to go home early, but you said I had to stay here to support SpongeBob. His idols went home early."

"That's because they're old, and live in a retirement home. You're much more younger and in shape."

"But that's not fair!"

"Quit complaining, Squidward. I can't control when you were born. The more you talk and stay here, the less time you sleep at home. Work resumes at 8:00 sharp."

"But...but..."

"See you then, boys!" He then left. Squidward sighed. I felt bad for him.

"Cheer up, Squidward." I told him. "If you get home now, and go to bed right away, you can get maybe six hours in."

"Hooray!"

"That's the spirit! See you at opening." I looked down at my sleepy snail. I tugged at his leash to wake him up. He did immediately, yawned, and meowed. "Come on, Gary." We were on our way.

As soon as I stepped on my welcome met in front of my house, I took out the key from underneath. I put it in when I heard a noise, deep sea breathing.

"Is that you, Gary?" I wanted to know when my snail screamed. "Gary, what's wrong? Why are you randomly screaming?" I was then mad. "Don't you know fish folk are sleeping at this hour of night? How rude!" He hissed, and screamed again. "Gary, I command you to stop that th..." I felt someone grab me, and I, too, screamed.

Gary

It was horrible! A guy in scuba diving gear just grabbed SpongeBob, and was running off with him, as he struggled in his grasp. I gave chase.

"Gary!" SpongeBob shouted at me. "It's no use; you can't outrun this guy! Save yourself, and get help!" But I didn't. I kept on chasing him. "Gary!"

I then saw him swim off in the distance. I was exhausted, but saw what he was swimming to. It was a boat (Plankton called it a 'butt' after drinking far too much Kelp Beer, Sandy called it a boat. Given that Sandy was the land expert, I'll have to go with her on this, plus Sandy's not evil so that's another reason why I trust her more).

I was determined. I had to keep going! I slithered some more as fast as I could.

But it was too late. The boat left, and as soon as I got to the edge, the boat was gone. I couldn't believe it. My owner was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Gary

I didn't know what to do. I couldn't tell anyone for they wouldn't be able to understand me. But I can't just move on, and pretend like nothing had ever happened. I had to do something, but what?

I decided to just go, and communicate by the only means that I could. Hopefully, eventually they'll get the point. I looked at Squidward's house, moved closer to it, cleared my throat, and meowed as loudly as I could over and over.

Minutes later, a window opened. Squidward's head poked out, looking mad.

"Would you shut up, SpongeBo..." He then saw that it was me. I stopped meowing. "Oh, it's you, SpongeBob's pet." What? Did he seriously not know my name? He neglected to feed me before for three days while my owner was away, so I didn't like him much. It was like my owner did because of that stupid new paddleball obsession of his, but I still love him. I have to. He's my owner, plus, he felt terrible about it, said he was deeply sorry, and I believed him. Anyways, Squidward knows me so he should know my name. "Would you be quiet? I have to go to work in a few hours. Why are you outside by yourself anyways?" He closed the window. I thought he was going to come down, but he didn't, so I continuously meowed again.

He opened his window again, once again looking mad.

"I told you to be quiet!" I kept on meowing. I know I was annoying the heck out of him (my owner does it, so believe me, I know) but I'll do anything to get his attention. I could see his face getting redder, and his veins popping. He turned to the pineapple. "SpongeBob, would you silence your snail? SpongeBob!" He turned to me. "Stay there!" He shut his window. I did what he told me to, and stayed put.

Seconds later, he marched outside, and went to our front door. I followed him as he knocked. "SpongeBob!" He knocked again. "SpongeBob!" He knocked repeatedly, even starting to pull on it. "SPONGEBOB, I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"

"Hey!" We both turned to an angry Patrick who opened his house. "Would you shut up? Some of us are trying to sleep!" He saw it was Squidward, and calmed down. "Oh, it's you Squidward. Why are you up? Don't you need to get ready for work in a few hours?"

"Yes, but I can't do that with Gary's constant meowing!" There it is! I knew he couldn't be that dumb to not know my name. He's not Patrick.

"Well, he's not meowing now."

"Well, he was. Look, I need to talk to SpongeBob."

"What for?"

"To quiet down Gary."

"Gary's quiet right no..." Squidward became angry again. He sighed, composing himself.

"Look, do you know if he's even home?"

"Hmmm, he should be."

"I know, but he's not answering."

"Hmmm," He then got an idea. "Stay right there." His house closed. Squidward moaned, and then saw SpongeBob's key. He picked it up.

Patrick then came out of his house with his pants on. He went towards us.

"Hey, what do you have there?" He wanted to know. Squidward showed the key to him.

"It's SpongeBob's key. I found it on the ground."

"What was it on the ground for?"

"I don't know." He took it out of Squidward's hands, and went towards the house. "What are you doing?" He put the key in the lock, and opened the door. Squidward seemed shocked by this. "You're just breaking in?!"

"Sure. What else? SpongeBob won't mind. Now, are you coming in, or are you just going to stay out in the cold?" Squidward sighed, and went in after Patrick. I did too. Patrick ushered us to follow him. "Come on, he should be in bed." We both followed him upstairs to the bedroom.

"Hey, SpongeBob!" Patrick said when we entered the bedroom. "There's someone that needs to see you!" They saw that he wasn't in bed. Patrick was confused. "SpongeBob? Where are you?" He pulled the covers. "SpongeBob?"

"He's not in bed." Squidward observed. "You know what? I'm just going to go to bed."

"No!" Patrick ordered him, which scared him a bit. It scared me a bit too. Patrick can sure be scary when he wants to be. "He might still be here." He got an idea. "Maybe he's under the bed!" He checked under the bed. "SpongeBob?" He checked the whole room. "SpongeBob!"

"Again, I'm just going to..."

"No; stay put! He's here's somewhere!" Patrick went off. Squidward groaned. He looked at me.

"He's not in the house, is he?" I shook my head. He sighed. "Thought so. I could just tell him, but he won't believe me. Oh well. He'll figure it out, no matter how stupid he is." I agreed.

"I checked the whole house 49 times!" Patrick announced later, waking us both up from our naps. Squidward stood up.

"Did you find him?"

"Find who?" Squidward became irritated.

"SpongeBob! Did you find SpongeBob?"

"Oh, uh, no." He pulled out a cookie from his pants pocket. "But I did find this cookie."He took a bite. "MMM, delicious! I'm going to search again." Patrick was about to go, when Squidward stopped him.

"I think you searched enough. You just have to face facts. He's not here."

"How do you know."

"I just know. Look, you searched the whole house 49 times you said, and didn't find him, so he's not here."

""Well, maybe if I look again, and make it an even 50..."

"No, you tried your best I think, and he's not here, end of story." Patrick looked at me, then back at Squidward.

"Gary told you he wasn't here, didn't he?"

"Would you believe me if I said yes?"

"Yes!"

"Then, yeah, he told me." Patrick looked at me.

"Why didn't you say anything sooner, Gary?" I didn't respond. "Maybe Sandy knows."

"I was going to suggest the police, but, sure, whatever. She's probably sleeping, but you don't care, do you?"

"Nope!"

"Well, I'm going home. You and Gary, good luck!" He left.

"Bye!" Patrick looked at me after he left, "You ready to ask Sandy about SpongeBob, Gary?" I meowed. "I don't know what that means, but great! We need a couple of stuff first, then we'll be on our way." I meowed, and with that Patrick and I left as well.

Patrick and I were in the entryway of Sandy's tree dome. We both had on our water helmets. Mine was different then Patrick's. My water helmet had a tube where I can put my mouth on to breathe in water.

"Sandy will know where SpongeBob is, Gary." Patrick told me. "She's smart like that." He rang the doorbell, and all of the water drained.

We waited and waited, but Sandy didn't come.

"Maybe she didn't hear." He rang the bell again, and we waited once again.

When Sandy didn't come yet again, Patrick rang the doorbell over and over again. I rolled my eyes.

Sandy then opened the door, not looking happy.

"Oh, hey, Sandy!" Patrick greeted. "Are your ears working? I was ringing your bell over and over, and..."

"Have you got any idea what time it is, Patrick?!" She scolded.

"Uh..." He looked at his wrist. "Oh, that's right; I don't have a watch." He looked at Sandy. "Do you know what time it is?" Sandy folded her arms across her chest.

"It's three in the morning."

"Three in my morning? I got to go. It's time for my three am Krabby Patty." He was about to go, when he composed himself. "No, I have to focus on the task at hand."

"Which is...?" Patrick looked at Sandy.

"Huh?"

"What you came here for."

"Oh, yeah, SpongeBob's missing." Sandy was now shocked.

"SpongeBob's missing? What do you mean?"

"He wasn't at his house. I checked 49 times." He looked at me. "Right, Gary?" I meowed in agreement. Sandy pondered about this.

"Maybe Gary knows about this. He is SpongeBob's pet after all, and he was with him last I reckon."

"Hang on, I'll ask." Patrick bent down to my level. "Do you know where SpongeBob is, Gary?" I meowed in response, knowing full well that he wouldn't understand me. "Can you repeat that in English? I can't understand your language." I was going to repeat it, when Sandy spoke up, coming to my rescue.

"You two come inside, and I'm going to get something to make this easier." I didn't know what she meant by that, but I followed Patrick as we went inside.

Patrick sat at a table, and I was beside him as we waited for Sandy to return from getting whatever she was getting. He ate his cookie from the plate that Sandy offered him. He gave me a cookie too, and I too, munched on it.

Sandy came down minutes later with what appeared to be a speaker. She also had headphones, with a little mic attached to it.

"What is all this?" Patrick wanted to know.

"This machine here will let us understand Gary." Sandy answered. "I made it so that I could understand the animals here." She knelt by me, and put on the headphones over me. She pressed a button on the speakers. She stood up. "Okay, now anything Gary says with the headphones on, and speaking into the mic, we can understand him." She looked at me. "Okay, Gary, speak away." I meowed into the mic.

"A diver kidnapped my owner as we were coming home from the party." I told them, and couldn't believe it. Was that my voice? I could see that Patrick was shocked as I was.

"Whoa, Gary, we can understand you!" He observed.

"Thanks to my brilliant invention." Sandy explained. She looked at me again. "A diver? Tell us everything. Remember to speak into the mic." And so, that is what I did.

"That's terrible!" Sandy observed after my tale. She then turned determined. "We need to rescue him!"

"How?" Patrick asked.

"By going on land to rescue him."

"Go on land?"

"Yeah, that's where the diver took him. You scared?"

"Who me? No way!"

"Then it's settled then, we're going to the service to rescue SpongeBob."

SpongeBob

I was dropped into a glass bowl. I looked around. Where was I? The diver looked at me, and did a really crazy laugh.

"I finally got you!" He took off his helmet to reveal a human's face. "Uncle Patchy will be really happy that I got you; I finally got SpongeBob Squarepants!" This shocked me. He knew my name? "I'm going to call him right now. Oh, and say hello to Flip." I was confused as he left. Who's Flip? From the castle beside me swam out a little sea turtle.

"Greetings." The sea turtle greeted. I looked at him as well.

"Greetings. Excuse me, where are we?"

"We're in a bowl in the house of my owner, Norman Bateman."

"Norman Bateman?" Flip nodded.

"That is what I said."

"Shouldn't you be in a tank or something?"

"I should, but my owner had a bowl left over from his last pet, a fish. After the fish died, he didn't bother to buy a tank. So here I am. I imagine I'll be put into a tank eventually, but for now, here is where I stay."

"That's interesting, Flip, but uh, do you know a way out of here?"

"I'm afraid you may be stuck in here with me."

"But I can't!"

"I'm afraid you are."

"But I can..." I then saw his irritated face. "Sorry. But I really can't. I have a life back home in the ocean, a town called Bikini Bottom. Ever heard of it?" Flip nodded."I have friends and a job.

"Ah, yes, the Krusty Krab." I was puzzled by this.

"You know where I work?" He nodded. "And what work even is?" Again, he nodded.

"The guy at the pet shop had a job taking care of us animals before we all went to our new homes."

"I know. We have a pet shop in Bikini Bottom."

"Well, if you really want to return home, I guess I'll try to help you any way I can."

"Thanks. That'll be really great and helpful. I'm SpongeBob by the way. SpongeBob..."

"Squarepants, I know." I was puzzled again.

"You do?"

"I do. My owner has an obsession for you. You and your friends."

"He knows my friends too?"

"Yup. Patrick Star, Sandy Cheeks, Squidward Tentacles, Eugene Krabs. Everybody you know, he knows."

"Okay, this is getting a little creepy."

"It gets worse. One day, while his Uncle Patchy was here, drinking with him, he made a bet."

"What was the bet?"

"He vowed that he'll capture you one day. Patchy laughed, and told him 'not in a million years!' He grew mad, and had a fight with him. They acted weird then. I haven't seen Patchy since, but that's all about to change, since you've been captured and all."

"Gosh!" I said. "I'm flattered that they idolize me like that, but gosh, fighting over me?Gosh!"

"You should see Norman's bedroom."

"You've been to his bedroom?" He nodded.

"Many times. When he's gone, I hop out of the bowl, and explore. He has a shrine in his room of you and your friends, and he adds to from time to time."

"So, where did he learn of me my friends?"

"From Patchy. You star in a TV show with all of your friends and enemies."

"I have a TV show?"

"And two movies, merch, a Broadway musical, whatever that is, and another movie and a possible CGI spin-off, again, whatever that is, on the way. You're known around the world, and been on TV for 20 years." I beamed as I realized something.

"Hey; that's when..."

"When you first started working at the Krusty Krab. I know."

"Oh, right." Norman then came back. We looked at him.

"My uncle Patchy is coming tomorrow. He still doesn't believe me, and thinks I'm nuts!" He laughed crazily. "But I'm going to prove him wrong!" He skipped out of the room, singing to himself. "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? SpongeBob Squarepants! Absorbent and yellow and por..."

"You really need to help me escape." I told Flip. "That guy's insane. I can't wait until tomorrow, as much as I want to meet a fan."

"I hear you. And if you stay here longer, you'll see how much crazier Norman can get."

"I believe you. Now, help me think. How can I escape?" We put our thinking hats on, and started thinking.

Patchy

I got off the phone with my nephew.

"Silver me timbers, I can't believe I'm related to him."

"Who was it?" Potty wanted to know. I looked at the parrot.

"Get this." I said to him. "That was my crazy nephew, Norman. He claimed he captured SpongeBob Squarepants when he was diving in Bikini Bottom. Can you believe it?"

"I believe he's crazy insane alright."

"I know, right? I'm going to go tomorrow to see if he's telling the truth or not."

"Can I go with you? I got to see this, or nothing at all for myself."

"Sure. I'll take you after work."

"Sounds like a plan."

Gary

"So, everyone ready?" Sandy wanted to know. Mr. Krabs, Squidward, Patrick, Sandy, Pearl, and I were standing before the surface (well, I wasn't standing, but you get the idea). Mr. Krabs, Squidward, and Patrick all had on their water helmets. Also, I wasn't going ashore. I was just there, and then Pearl was going to snailsit me until my owner is saved.

"Tell me again why do I have to go on this quest?" Squidward asked.

"Easy." Mr. Krabs said to him. "Because SpongeBob is your friend, and you care for him deeply. Uh, you do care for him, don't you?"

"Well, I..."

"What a stupid question!" Patrick cut in. "Of course he cares about SpongeBob. I do." He looked at Squidward. "You do care, right, Squidward?"

"Honestly, I..."

"This is silly." Sandy interrupted. "The longer we're down here, the more time SpongeBob is up there. It's time to get him back!" Everyone cheered at this. Mr. Krabs walked over to us, and bent down to me. I looked up at him.

"Be good to my Pearly, okay, Gary?" He said to me.

"Oh, Daddy!" Pearl said."He'll be good to me, just like I'll be good to him." Mr. Krabs looked up at his daughter.

"Glad to hear it, Pearl. You got his snail food or whatever?"

"Yes. I'll remember to feed him. I know the right amount. We have a pet scallop and worm. I'm sure they all will become fast friends." Her dad smiled.

"That's also good to hear. I'm sure they will too."

"Enough talk!" Sandy said. "Time's a wastin!" Everyone cheered once again, as we all moved forwards.

Pearl bid farewell to everyone going ashore. She and her dad shared a hug, and he and everybody else left the water.

"There they go." Pearl spoke. "Just think, the next time you see them, your owner will be with them, safe and healthy, what do you say to that, Gary? Are you excited?" I meowed my reply. "I'll take it that you're ecstatic. Why wouldn't you be? Am I right?" Again, I meowed. "I'm right. I know I am."

Then a spacesuit and a helmet dropped down beside us. Pearl picked both of them up. They were Sandy's of course. Since she's now on land, she didn't need them anymore, so she asked Pearl to take them off her hands. When they come back, someone is going to bring Sandy's stuff back to her, so she can also come back underwater. It might be a bit much if you ask me, but, whatever. As long as my owner comes back safe and sound. That's all I ask.

Sandy

"Okay," I told everyone once I got rid of my suit and helmet. "Let's go find SpongeBob, and bring him home where he belongs."

"But, where will we go?" Patrick wanted to know. "We don't know where he is."

"That's just it, Patrick. We don't know. That's why we got to go find him. I vow that we won't rest until he is found no matter how long it takes. Now who's with me?" Everyone but Squidward cheered. Mr. Krabs nudged him.

"Mr. Squidward?!" He said.

"Whoo!" Squidward faked cheered.

"I don't think you're too thrilled about this."

"WHOO!" Squidward faked cheered again. Mr. Krabs sighed.

"Mr. Squidward? Don't make me take money out of your paycheck." The octopus was about to say something when Mr. Krabs spoke first. "You know what I mean." Squidward was going to say something again, when he decided against it, and this time screamed louder. I don't know if he really meant it, but whatever! I looked onwards.

"Hang tight, little square dude." I said to myself. "We're coming for you."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

SpongeBob

Flip peered his head beyond the corner. He came back to me.

"Okay," He said to me. "The coast is clear. We can go now, but we better hurry. Norman's watching TV, but who knows when he'll decide to get up."

"Oh, tarter sauce!" I cursed. "How could I forget?" Flip was confused.

"Forget what?" With one look at me, he realized something. "Oh, that's right, you're a sea breather. You don't do well without water." I nodded.

"What are we going to do?" He pondered about this.

"Hmmm, this is a problem indeed." I looked at him, and got an idea.

"Can I go inside of your shell with you?" He looked at me, and nodded.

"Sure, I guess that'll work. Yeah, and with you inside with me, you won't be able to slow me down."

"I wouldn't slow you down anyway. We'll be one in the same, literally!" He jumped back into the bowl to fill his shell with water.

"Okay, come in." With that, I squeezed into his shell.

"Comfy?"

"It's a little cramped in here."

"Well, I'm sorry about that. My shell wasn't designed to have guests in here."

"Onward! Come on, I want to escape!"

"Right." With that, he jumped back out of the bowl, and went to the corner of the room to peek out again. I did too, and saw what Norman was watching.

"Hey!" I piped up, noticing what was on TV. "He's watching my TV show. There's Perch and Mr. Krabs. He's interviewing him about something." I then saw him unveil something, which got me confused.

"The Krusty Krab 2!" My boss announced on the television set.

"The Krusty Krab 2? I don't remember that at all." He looked at me. "Flip? Care to explain?" Flip sighed. He seemed to be irritated.

"He's watching your first movie. It was going to be your series finale, but the fans wanted more. So, think of it as the future." I was impressed.

"The future? Wow!" I looked at the TV again. "Hmmm, weird. I thought everything was going to be chrome in the future, but Mr. Krabs builds a Krusty Krab 2? That's even better!" I thought of something else that made me excited. I looked at Flip again. "Does Mr. K make me manager? I always wanted to be manager." But he didn't answer. "Uh, Flip; I need to know. Am I manager or what? I don't think my heart can take it anymore; I got to know!" He shushed me.

"Focus!"

"I guess I'll find out in the future." With the coast clear, he zoomed out, and headed towards the door. I never knew a sea turtle can move so fast.

"Wait, he's about to announce if I became manager or not! I know I said I'll find out in the future, but I can't; I just can't! I have to know now!" The TV then paused.

"Tarter sauce! He was going to announce it too! Oh, the suspense is killing me. What a time to pause with a cliffhanger, huh, Flip?" Flip didn't answer. He tried to push the door open. "Flip?"

"No time! Now, help me open this door."

"Uh, isn't it locked from the outside?" I then saw human feet from out of the shell.

"Aw, fish paste!" We were picked up.

"Thought you could escape, huh?" Norman said. He saw me inside. "Is that SpongeBob in your shell? So, you tried to escape, and tried to smuggle SpongeBob with you? Tsk, tsk, bad sea turtle." He took us back, and we were dropped back into the bowl. He then walked back into the other room.

"That was a bust." Flip observed. He looked at me. "Sorry, kid. I should have found the key, and used it to unlock it. I wasn't thinking."

"That's okay." I assured him. "This failure only means we got to try harder next time. In the meantime, I want to watch the rest of my future." He sighed deeply.

Sandy

We beach-combed the entire beach, and nothing. The little guy just wasn't anywhere in sight.

"Okay." Squidward began. "We searched this whole beach, and SpongeBob's not here. Can we leave now?"

"No, Squidward." I told him. "We can't go yet. We don't have SpongeBob yet." Squidward sighed.

"Thought not. Still worth a shot."

"Oh, hey, human!" Patrick greeted. I looked to where Patrick was looking at, and gasped. It was a human child!

"Hey, Patrick!" The child greeted back. "Wait right there." He ran off. "Chris, Chis; you have to see this. You'll freak!"

"Patrick!" I scolded. Patrick was confused.

"What did I do?" He asked. "I'm getting help. He might know where SpongeBob is."

"Or he might not, and do something else to us." He scoffed, and crossed his arms across his chest, mad.

"Gosh, I was only trying to help."

I can maybe help you!" A voice called out. We looked. It was a seagull flying in the air. He landed before us. "Name's Tim. Any help you need, I'm at your service. Now, what do you need?"

"We're trying to find someone, Tim." I said to the sea bird.

"Find someone? I'll try to help any way I can."

"Thanks, Tim."

"No, prob. Now tell me, who are you trying to find?" I told him everything.

"Gosh!" He said when I was done. "That's tough. I'm so, so very sorry. I'll fly over to see if I can find him. He's a sponge, right?"

"Wow!" Said am impressed Patrick. "That's right. How did you know? Wait, is he a sponge?"

"Yes," Replied Squidward. "He's a sponge."

"'Sponge' is in the title," Tim continued. "It doesn't take a birdbrain to figure it out."

"But you are a bird." Mr. Krabs put in. "And you have a brain, so, there you go, I guess."

"You search in the sky," Sandy told him. "And we're going to search the land." Tim nodded in agreement.

"I'll do that." He flew off. "I hope I won't let you down."

"Don't worry!" I shouted after him. "You won't! Just try your best; that will make us proud no matter what!"

"But it'll be better if you find him!" Patrick shouted as well. We all eyed him. "What? What?!" I looked at everybody.

"Okay, sea folks, this is where your water helmets will come in handy. Now, let's go!" We were about to go when we saw the same human boy. Another older human boy was with him.

"See, Chris?" The boy said to the other. "I told you; Patrick Star and friends! Looks like you owe me a dollar." Patrick waved to the boy.

"Hi, human child!" The starfish greeted again. The boy waved back as the other boy's jaw dropped in disbelief. The boy nudged him.

"I'll give you a dollar when I get home." He admitted.

"You better!"

"Can you help us?" Patrick asked. "We're trying to find SpongeBob." The boys were then shocked.

"SpongeBob is gone?" The boy asked. He turned to Chris.

"Chris, we have to help them!"

"But we don't know where he is, Steve."

"That's why we have to find him."

"I don't know. What about Mom and Dad?"

"They will want us to help them."

"I know, but if we say we're helping to find SpongeBob, a fictional cartoon character, they would think we gone crazy, and sign us up for therepy."

"They shouldn't do that. Patrick's real, Sandy's real."

"I just don't know, Steve."

"Please?"

"Yeah." I put in. "We could really need your and Chris's help."

"The sooner, the better." Squidward stated.

"Okay." Steve and all of us cheered.

"You won't regret this, Chris!" Chris looked at us.

"So what do we do? Where do we go first?" I told them about Tim.

"Okay," Chris declared when I was done with my explanation. "I'll go tell my mom and dad a lie, then we'll be on our way." He then left. Steve was confused.

"Why a lie?" He wanted to know. "That's bad."

"It'll probably make things easier, kid." I said to him. "Trust me." He still looked unsure.

"Okay, I guess if it works."

Gary

Pearl opened the door when we got to her and Mr. Krab's house, and we went inside. She turned on the light, and closed the door behind us.

"Mr. Doodles!" She cried. "I'm home, and I brought you a friend!" A worm then shot out from the corner. He ran to Pearl, panting, stopped by her feet, and barked. Pearl knelt down, and petted him. She baby-talked him. "Who's a good boy? Is it you? I think it is; I think it is!" I rolled my eyes. Thank goodness SpongeBob doesn't talk to me like that. I don't know how any grown pet can stand that; I really can't. It's really irritating!

She cleared her throat. "Mr. Doodles," She turned to me. "This is Gary, Dad's employee's pet." He looked at me as well, and barked once again. "I could introduce you to the scallop, but he likes to keep to himself. I'll let you guys to it then. I have to call the girls, and tell them what I'm doing. They will be so jellie!" She left. Mr. Doodles turned to me.

"So, is this a play date?" He asked me. "I never had a play date before."

"You could say that I guess." I spoke to him. "Could be really long though."

"The longer the better. When is your master coming to pick you up?"

"I honestly don't know."

"He didn't abandon you, did he?".

"Goodness no! He would never do that, well, he wouldn't mean to. It just depends. But not likely."

"Well, where is he then? Why are you here?" I told him everything.

When I was done with my tale, he frowned,

"That's sad. That's really sad." He whimpered. "I'm really sorry. That sucks."

"Thanks." I agreed. "And yes, it does. It sucks a lot. This must be what SpongeBob felt when I ran away." He was confused.

"You ran away? Why? Home is the best!"

"It's a long story."

"Well, you said this play date may be long, so tell me later, okay?" I sighed.

"Okay. If you really want to know."

"I do."

"Say, does the scallop really like to keep to himself?"

"He is. But don't worry; I'm fun! I'm really fun!"

"I can really tell."

"You know, I don't really like snails, but I like you. We'll be friends forever!"

"Thanks. I don't really care for worms, but you're alright." He smiled. I smiled as well.

"My friends are coming over." Pearl announced to us the next day "We are going to paint each other's nails, listen to boy bands, talk about boys, do things that'll drive him nuts, you know, girly things, and of course, show you off, Gary. You're the whole reason why they want to come over, that and among other things. Well, I'm going to get ready now!" She left again. Mr. Doodles groaned. I was concerned.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Don't get me wrong," He began. "I like Pearl and her friends; I really do. But sometimes they can be a bit much if you know what I mean."

"SpongeBob is often a bit much, so I kind of know what you mean, but it can't be worse then SpongeBob."

"Oh trust me, it is. I don't know how's it like with SpongeBob, but just trust me, it's bad. You'll see when they get here."

"I'll take your word for it. Thanks for the warning."

"No problem, now, tell me your running away story." I sighed. I really can't believe this would be interesting for him, but here I go I guess.

Mr. Doodles turned out to be right. Pearl showed me her friends. Her friends did their 'oohs' and 'aws.' After that it all went downhill from there. They all lost interest, and left us alone to do their 'girly things'. They did nails, as well as other stuff, barely acknowledging us. It's like we didn't exist anymore. It was just as Mr. Doodles said. It was bad. A bit much is an exaggeration.

"See?" Mr. Doodles said to me. "What did I tell you?" I sighed.

"You're right." I said to him. "I'm just glad that SpongeBob isn't like this. But it's just a phase she's going though. She'll get better as the time goes on I'm sure."

"Very lucky. Very lucky indeed, and I hope you're right, because if Pearl says 'omg' or 'that's so coral' one more time, I'm going to puke. But I'm also lucky to have you by my side until this nightmare is over." I sighed once more.

"Yes, very lucky indeed." Oh, SpongeBob, where are you? Where did that diver take you? I miss you, as I'm sure you miss me too. Please, come home safe and sound so we can be together again.

SpongeBob

"So, is the coast clear again?" I asked as soon as Flip came into the room after checking if Norman went to bed that night. "Is Norman asleep?" The sea turtle nodded.

"But we need to be quiet." He explained. "We don't want to wake him remember." I nodded in agreement.

"I know. You got the key?" He produced the key out of his shell. I smiled. "Perfect. It looks like everything is in order. Now, help me out of here." He scooted over to the bowl. "Okay, here I come." With that, I floated up, and got out of the bowl. Flip helped me out. I then went into his shell.

"Ready?" He wanted to know. I nodded.

"Let's do this!" With that, we were off.

Once at the door, he took the key in his mouth, poked his head out, grabbed it in his flipper, and placed it into the lock.

Once he turned the key, we heard something.

"Hurry!" I whispered loudly. "I think Norman's up!" He opened it. "Great, now we have to go fast."

"I agree." He agreed. With that, he inched his way out of the house. We then heard a shout from behind us.

"Oh no you don't!" It was Norman!

"He's coming; hurry! I know sea turtles can outrun a snail."

"But they can't outrun a human." He said. Norman ran in front of us. I screamed. Flip turned to me. "See? Told you."

"Ha!" Norman laughed. He grabbed us, and he lifted us off of the ground. "Caught you guys! Good thing I woke up for a glass of water otherwise you two would've escaped. But not on my watch." He took us back to the room, but not before grabbing the rest of the water with his free hand, and put us back into the bowl. "There, now to make sure there isn't anymore escapes, I'll sleep down here." He plopped himself onto the sofa, making himself comfortable. "Uncle Patchy couldn't make it today, so he'll swing by tomorrow afternoon." He took a sip from his water, and placed it down. "Night, night!" He closed his eyes, and went to sleep. Flip sighed.

"Another bust." I turned to him with a frown.

"There must be another way." I told him. "I just know it. We just have to think."

"It's late." He said to me. "If you want to stay up, and try to escape, then be my guest." He inched towards the castle. "But me, I'm going to bed. I'm tired."

"Wait!" I yawned as well, and followed him. "I'm sleepy too. We can think better once we have enough sleep." He smiled.

"A wise decision." We made ourselves comfortable. I laid down.

Oh, Sandy, Gary, Mr. Krabs, Squidward, and everybody in Bikini Bottom, how I miss you so. But don't worry. I'm going to bust out with Flip's help. We'll reunite soon enough. I just know it! With that, I went to sleep.

Sandy

"We've been walking all day, Sandy!" Patrick complained. "I'm tired! Can we sleep?"

"The chubby sea star's right." Mr. Krabs told me. "I'm tired too. Can we take a rest, and continue our search in the morning?" I hated to admit it, but so was I. I tried to hide it. I turned to them.

"No!" I barked. "Sleep is for the weak."

"Sleep is for the weak?" Patrick wanted to know, looking sad. "But we slept last night without a problem. He was then mad. "Are you calling us weak?!" But I didn't answer.

"There will be no rest until SpongeBob is found, you hear me? There will be no rest until..."

"Aren't you tired too?" Mr. Krabs asked.

"No!" I tried to stop a yawn. "Admit it, you're tired like all of us."

"Okay, I'm tired too, but I'm not giving up on SpongeBob."

"We're not giving up. We feel like we can better focus after some shut-eye."

"No! If you want to sleep, be my guest; I'm all for it. But, as for me, I'm going to continue on searchin' until the cows come home." I could see confusion on Patrick's face.

"Sandy, what are you talking about?" Patrick asked. "What cows?" He leaned towards Squidward. "Did you send these 'cows' Squidward, and where did you send them? Don't you see they're trying to come home?" But he ignored Patrick, as did I as I turned my back and walked on.

"Come on." I heard Chris tell the sea critters. "I know where we can sleep for the night." I stopped, and sighed. I decided then and there to go with them. It wouldn't hurt if we slept for a few hours. I turned to them as they were leaving, and went after them.

"Wait for me, guys!"

"Now you're speaking our language, Sandy!" Mr. Krabs told me. Patrick was confused again.

"She always spoke our language Mr. Krabs, or are you talking about her Texas language, in which case I didn't know you talked Texas. And what about the cows coming home? What are you guys not telling me? Come on, and is sleep really for the weak? Does that make us weak? I need to know!"

"We can sleep out here tonight in this alleyway." Chris explained to us in said alleyway. Steve looked unsure about this.

"Are you sure, Chris?" He wanted to know. "What did you tell our parents?" Chris looked at his brother.

"Relax, I told them we went to Jerry's and Tom's for a sleepover, just like I did yesterday."

"But we didn't."

"Mom and Dad don't know that. That's the point of the lie."

"Oh right. I still don't feel right about that."

"Relax, kid." Mr. Krabs told him. "What they don't know won't hurt them. And it's good for us."

"Okay, if you say so, but I still don't know."

"You will." I looked at Chris and Steve.

"Thanks for helping us, kiddos." I said to them. "We really appreciate this." Chis looked back at me, and smiled.

"No problem." I turned to all my friends next.

"Okay guys, we resume searchin' as soon as we wake up, understand?"

"I just wish we were in our comfortable beds, instead of you know, here." Squidward said.

"Well, we ain't. We just have to make the best of it." I laid down. "Now, goodnight!" They all said their good nights, and we all, or at least I, went to sleep.

Potty

"Goodnight, Potty!" Patchy said to me as I made myself comfortable on my makeshift nest in his room. "Sweet dreams, don't yet the bedbugs bite."

"Yeah, yeah!" I squeaked. "Same goes for you I guess." I closed my eyes, and went to sleep.

Minutes later, I heard him snoring. Oh brother, here we go again. Not wanting to bother waking him, I flew downstairs, and landed on the couch. I was about to close my eyes again when I saw something in the window that caught my eye. Is that...? I flew closer to the window, and landed on the windowsill to take a better look. It was! I couldn't believe it! It was Sandy Cheeks!

I worked the lock with my beak, opening the window. I flew out.

I saw right. There was Sandy. I looked around. Patrick, Squidward, and Mr. Krabs was here too, but no SpongeBob. There were also two kids that I didn't know, but I didn't care. I only cared for Sandy and friends.

"Why are you guys sleeping out here for?" I asked, waking them up. They all saw me, and screamed. I sighed. Typical.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

SpongeBob

We were sleeping when we were awakened by a knock. We both looked behind us, and saw a seagull pecking at the window.

"I think he wants something." I said. Flip nodded in agreement.

"I think so too. If there was someway we can talk to him, and see what he wants." I nodded in agreement. I then saw Norman get up, head towards the window, and opened it.

"KNOCK IT OFF YOU BLASTED BIRD!" He shouted. The bird flew in, and pecked at him. He screamed. He tripped, and fell to the floor. I couldn't believe what I just saw.

"Is he dead?" I asked.

"No, I think he's just unconscious." Flip observed, looking from the bowl. The bird looked at us then, and flew to us. I panicked,

"Is he going to attack us?" I shielded myself. "Oh gosh, I don't want to go like this."

"Don't worry, SpongeBob." The seagull responded. "I'm not going to attack you. I just want to tell you something. You are SpongeBob, aren't you?" This shocked me.

"Yes, but how did you know?"

"A squirrel is looking for you. As well as a starfish, an octopus, and a crab." I got excited over this.

"I knew they'll be looking for me!" Flip looked at me, and smiled.

"Well, would you look at that? Looks like you're going home, kid." I smiled as well.

"Looks like it. Thank you, seagull."

"Oh, I'm Tim." Tim said.

"Thank you, Tim." We all saw Norman begin to stir.

"Well, I better fly off. I'll send your friends this way." With that, he flew out the window. Norman stood up, groaning. He shut the window, and shook his head in disbelief.

"How can a seagull be here?" He asked us. "How? We're miles from the ocean. Miles! I just don't get it. I don't get it at all." He said goodnight to us, and went to bed again on the couch.

"Well, looks like we separate soon." I said to Flip. "It was fun while it lasted. I'm going to miss you." Flip smiled.

"I'm going to miss you too." He told me. "I can always see you on the TV, but it won't be the same."

"And I can see you in my mind whenever I want to think of you, and you know you'll always be there."

"Thanks. I don't know when your show will end, but when it does, you won't leave my mind either." I was touched by this. "Now, get to sleep again. You'll want to be fully awake when you're being rescued, don't you?" I saluted.

"Yes, sir, Flip; goodnight again!"

"Goodnight again, SpongeBob." Once again, we went to bed.

Sandy

"W-who are you?" I wanted to know.

"Potty." The parrot that was like a marionette answered. Patrick and Steve laughed. I eyed him.

"Potty." He chuckled. "What a funny name. Named after a toilet." Mr. Krabs, who also eyed him, nudged him. He stopped. Steve did too when Chris did the same. Potty rolled his eyes.

"Like I never heard that before." He said. "But at least I'm not Polly. I hate crackers. Always have, always will." He then changed the subject. "Anyways, do you all want to come inside?" We all got interested in this. "Or do you all want to sleep out here like homeless bums?"

"We can go inside?" Patrick asked. Potty nodded.

"It seems like the nice thing, so I have to ask."

"Well thank you kindly." I thanked the bird.

"Sure. Now come inside if you're coming inside. If you're not, don't. I don't care."

"We are, we are!" An excited Squidward told him. "If I can't go back to the ocean, this is the next best thing."

"So come inside."

"Don't mind that I do." We all went inside.

"Well, this is the place." Potty said to us as we all entered the place. "Well, this really isn't the place. This is one of Patchy's friend's house that he's letting us stay at while our house is being fumigated due to rats."

"We never have that problem down in the ocean." I explained. "Although we do get nematodes. Dang nematodes."

"Well, nematodes are equivalent to our rats. So, dang rats. I don't know what's worse. Probably nematodes. Rats can eat anything they get their paws on, but not houses or boats." Patrick laughed again.

Remember when Plankton called a boat a butt? And you people say I'm the dumb one."

"And you still are." Squidward said. Mr. Krabs nudged him.

"Well, he was drunk when he said that." I reminded him. "When you're dunk, it makes you do, and say crazy things."

"Oh, tell me about it." Potty said. "Whenever Patchy's drunk, anything can happen. Anything that is reckless and stupid."

"Can we meet this 'Patchy' of yours?" Patrick asked.

"Uh, he's sleeping."

"Oh, can you wake him?" He just ignored him.

"In speaking of sleeping, we better do the same if I'm taking you to SpongeBob tomorrow."

"This is mighty kind of you of what you are doing by letting us stay here, and leading us to SpongeBob."

"They are probably the nicest things I ever done to anyone, so enjoy it while it lasts."

"Oh, don't worry. We will." With that we all said our 'good nights, and went to sleep."

The next morning, we all heard a peck from outside. We all looked, it was Tim.

"Oh, I forgot Tim." I said embarrassed. Patrick laughed.

"Ha!" He laughed. "Sandy forgot Tim!" He was then puzzled. "Who's Tim?"

"Who's this bozo?" Potty asked. So, I told him all about Tim. Potty then did a crazy thing. He unlocked the window with his beak, and let Tim fly inside."I didn't say you could come inside! Oh, whatever, just make it quick before Patchy comes, and see I let a wild seagull in here. This place isn't ours, but still, he'll be mad, and blame me like always." Tim nodded.

"I'll be brief." Tim promised him. He looked at me.

"I found him! He's with a sea turtle in a human's house."

"Potty's going to take us to him." I told him. Tim was confused.

"Potty's the parrot." Mr. Krabs explained. Tim looked at Potty.

"Oh, I thought the squirrel was talking about where humans, well, you know."

"I know." Potty said, and sighed. "I get that a lot. I could change it, but strangely enough, I'm not. Just got to live with it, I guess." Tim looked back at me.

"So my search in the sky was for nothing? Because, I feel like it was if he knows the way."

"No, no!" I said to him. "You did your job. You found SpongeBob, and we couldn't be more proud. We can take the rest from here. You just fly off, and have a good life."

"Well, gee, thanks, I feel so much better."

"You're welcome." Patrick said, and waved. "Bye!"

"Now, scram before Patchy sees you." Potty said.

"Fine, I see when I'm not wanted anymore." He flew off. I felt bad for him. Now that we found Potty, we really didn't need him anymore. I hate seeing him leaving us so upset.

"Poor bird." Patrick observed. "I think we upset him."

"You think?" Squidward questioned sarcastically. Patrick got an idea.

"We should cheer him up!" We all looked at him.

"As much as I love that idea," I stated. "We can't. We have a job to do remember?"

"SpongeBob would."

"Which is why we need to save him from that diver. Now, come on. Tim was our alarm clock. It's morning, and all of us are up. I say we go now!" The sea critters all groaned.

"Thanks a lot, Tim!" Squidward mumbled.

"Yeah!" Patrick agreed. "Thanks a lot, Tim, even though you're not here anymore to hear us complaining about you."

"Okay," Potty declared. "If we must go. We better hurry before..."

"Potty!" A gravelly voice from upstairs shouted. Potty groaned. "Did you fly off to fall asleep again due to my snoring? I told you a thousand times I can't help it. They happen when they happen." I looked at Potty, confused.

"Is that Patchy?"

"Unfortunately yes, that's him all right."

"Maybe he can help us." Steve suggested.

"No!" Potty said firmly. We all looked at him as he cleared his throat. "I mean, we have a lot of help as it is. There's no need to overdue it."

"But, but..." We then heard footsteps from upstairs.

"GO!" We then all ran outside.

Patchy

"Potty!" I called him as I made my way downstairs. "Are those voices I hear? Did you invite company? Because you know how I feel about letting your bird friends in here without my permission." I looked around. The whole room was empty. "Potty?" I looked around. "Potty? Where did you go? I know you and your friends are here. Potty!"

I gave up after a few minutes. What am I doing, looking for that feathered birdbrain when I could do more important stuff, like doing SpongeBob related stuff? I was about to go in the kitchen when I saw something in the window. Is that...? I went closer to get a better look.

I could've sworn I saw Potty leading Mr. Krabs, Sandy, Patrick, Squidward, and two boys off somewhere. Aw, must be another daydream. With that, I resumed towards the kitchen.

Sandy

"So, how far is this place, Potty?" I asked him.

"Will this make our feet tired?" Patrick wanted to know. Steve nudged Chris. Chris looked at him.

"Didn't you lie to our parents about sleepovers for the last two nights?" He questioned. He realized something. "And what about school? Holy cow, we missed a couple days of school! Mom and Dad are going to be so furious!"

"I know this looks bad," Chris began. "And it is, but hear me out. We're helping those in need, isn't that more important? Mom and Dad will be mad at first, but also proud of what we've done."

"Easy for you to say, you hate school."

"I really do. Most of the stuff they teach us, we're not going to need later on in life." Steve was shocked. "They might say that we do, but we really don't."

"But it's good that we know some stuff, right?"

"Yeah, so we don't sound dumb I suppose. What they really should be teaching us is stuff that we actually need later on."

"Like what?"

"Like..."

"I'm going to have to interrupt you guys." I interrupted. "But maybe you guys should go back. We can handle this from here, thank you."

"No way!" Chris argued. He saw my expression. "I mean, tonight starts the weekend. And we were taught to finish what we started, so that's what we're going to do. We're going to stay until the very end."

"But what about your parents?"

"We'll explain everything to them later."

"But you said that they wouldn't believe us." Steve reminded him.

"Then you think of something better."

"Uh, we lie to them?" Chris smiled.

"Now, you're living like a rebel. I'm proud of you, bro."

"I don't know how I feel about it, but I'm willing to give it a shot."

"You'll love it."

"Okay, if you say so."

"I know so."

"Okay."

"It's going to take you guys forever on foot." Potty explained to us.

"So, what are you saying?" I asked. "What are we going to do? How will we get to SpongeBob?" Potty looked at the two human boys.

"These two are going to get all of us a taxi." The kids were confused.

"We are?" Steve questioned. Potty nodded.

"One of you will hail us a taxi, we ride until we want to get off, and boom, we're there. We'll get SpongeBob, and come back. Easy peasy."

"But we don't have money." Chris told him.

"That's okay. We'll put in on Patchy's bill."

"Is this legal?" Steve wanted to know. "Will he be alright with us doing this?"

"He will when he hears that it will help SpongeBob. Now, are you kids going to help, or just be concerned about it all day?" Both kids looked at each other, and grinned. Chris looked back at Potty.

"You can count on me." Chris said, and pulled out a smartphone. "I'm going to call an uber instead." Mr. Krabs, as well as all of us were confused.

"Uber?" He questioned. "What's that?"

"Yeah, it's like a taxi, but not."

"And what's a taxi?" Patrick asked.

"Don't you have things like these in Bikini Bottom?" Steve questioned. "I'm sure you must have those, or something similar." Patrick shrugged.

"I just go along with what the fish folk call them."

"Shush!" Chris said."I don't want to push the wrong buttons." We were all puzzled about this, but didn't question it, and just let him do his business.

Chris told us that Uber was going to pick us up in ten minutes. We had no choice but to wait. Potty told us that when Uber got here, we all had to made sure not to be seen, as if we didn't already know.

A car got here minutes later. Chris told us it was our uber, so we believed him. When Steve opened the door, we all got in, and hid under the seats so that we couldn't be seen.

Chris told the driver where to go, and the car drove away. Potty looked at me.

"We should discuss the rescue plan while on the road." He suggested. "So you know, we know what to do when we get there, and don't waste time." I nodded in agreement.

"I like your thinking, bird." I told him. I looked at everyone. "Okay, everyone gather around, say where's Patrick?"

"He's looking at the window," Steve explained. "Marveling at all the sights. I'll get him down." He nudged Patrick out of the car's window standing on the car lock. "Pat, we're discussing a plan, and we need you. I'll bring you down." He grabbed the sea star, and brought him down to us. The excited sea critter leapt down from his palm.

"Sandy," He began. "You have to see what's out there. It's amazing!"

"Big deal!" Squidward scoffed. "We've been to the human world a few times before."

"Yeah, but it keeps on changing. That what makes it so awesome."

"We can all marvel at the human world later." I explained. "But right now, we need to focus on getting SpongeBob back."

"Okay, Sandy." Chris said. He and his brother looked down at me. "We're all listening,what's the plan. I thought about this, and then snapped my fingers.

"I got it!" I told all of them the plan.

"What are you kids doing back there?" The driver wanted to know. We all looked up towards him.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked back.

"I swear I heard an animal."

"What? That's ridiculous! Why would you say that?"

"Because I heard one."

"Oh, that's my brother. He's entertaining me with his animal impressions." He talked to him though clenched teeth.

"Make a squirrel sound, Chris." Chris was shocked.

"Me? Why? What does a squirrel sound like?"

"How should I know? You're the one making the impression."

"What? No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are. Show him." He sighed, and did his 'impression.' I did a facepalm. Ugh, the cringe! That was the worst squirrel impression I ever heard. Fortunately, it was good enough for the driver.

"Whatever. Say, what tunes do you kids like?"

"Nothing!" The driver was confused.

"You hate music?"

"No, we love music. We just want to drive without it. Is that a problem?"

"No. I'm getting paid anyway, so I don't care one way or another."

"Great, thanks for understanding!"

"Again, whatever." He paid attention to the road again. He mumbled something under his breath, but I didn't hear what he said. I just looked at everyone again, and told them the rest of the plan.

"Okay," Chris said to the driver when I was done. "You can play tunes."

"Can I really?" He asked. "I thought you said..."

"That was before." Steve said. "And now we want music. We can change our minds you know."

"What do you want?"

"Anything will do." Chris said.

"No rap through." Steve stated. "Mom doesn't allow us to listen to rap music. A lot of swear words. She claims it's the devil's music."

"She's not here. Live a little."

"I'm afraid."

"It's better then her country music." I was shocked to hear this.

"Anything is better then country music." I was even more shocked.

"How about I play whatever I can find?" The driver asked.

"Deal!" Both boys agreed at the same time.

I cleared my throat as the driver was playing with the music. The kiddos looked down at me.

"What?" Chris asked.

"You don't like country? Country's my jam. It reminds me of home."

"Sorry to tell you this, but it's lame."

"Yeah!" His brother added. "Lame." I was mad, but then calmed down by taking a deep breath, and letting it go.

"It's okay. Not everybody has to like the same things."

"That's right." Steve pointed out. "Everybody's different and unique in their own way. You do you, and have no one stand in your way. That's what Dad says."

"I don't know who your dad is." Mr. Krabs chipped in. "But I like him. You have a good dad, kid." Steve smiled. He looked at Chris. "You too, Chris." Chris smiled as well.

"I'm going to look outside again." Patrick said. We all headed for the window, even Squidward.

"We're here." Potty announced as soon as the car slowed down. It then stopped in front of a house. We all looked at it, as the boys unbuckled their seatbelts. Patrick was impressed.

"This is where they're keeping SpongeBob?" He questioned. "It's bigger then my house!"

"That's because you're literally living under a rock." Squidward pointed out to him.

"Looks homey." Mr. Krabs stated. "If this wasn't a bad man, and I could breathe on land, I would move here, and take Pearl and the pets with me."

"Does this mean if you move, you'll close the Krusty Krab, and I don't have to work there anymore?" Asked a hopeful Squidward. Mr. Krabs eyed him.

"If is the key word here, Mr. Squidward. And no way! The Krusty Krab is my livelihood. To think Im going to close it, and make you guys stop working? That just won't do. Dream on, Squidward, dream on!" Squidward sighed.

"Okay, Mr. Krabs, whatever you say."

"So does everyone remember the plan?" I asked as we all went out, and Chris talked to the man.

"What plan?" Patrick wanted to know. We eyed him. "Oh, that plan! I was just so amazed by the human world that I almost forgot, but I remember now! I think." We all groaned.

As soon as the Uber car drove away, we set our plan into motion. We, critters, hid behind the corner as Chris rang the doorbell. The door opened, and we saw an adult man on the other side.

"That doesn't look like any diver." Patrick observed. "Where's his suit, and the weird glass thing on his head?"

"He doesn't wear it all the time." I told him. "He's like me. He wears it when he needs them."

"He's not like you, Sandy. He's human, a diver, and he's a guy." I ignored him.

"Can I help you two kids?" The diver asked the boys.

"And he doesn't speak with a Texas accent either." I, again, ignored him completely.

"We're raising money for charity." Chris began. "To help save the endangered stellar sea lions." The diver was confused.

"There are sea lions that are in danger?"

"Oh yeah, as well as some dolphins, Hector's dolphins to be precise, hammerhead sharks, among other animals..."

As the two kids were distracting him, Potty ushered us to creep in. So that is what we did.

"So, where's SpongeBob?" I wanted to know in a whisper.

"If I'm right, he's this way." The parrot whispered back. Follow me." We all followed him as he flew off.

"SpongeBob!" I said as soon as I saw him. Patrick was excited as well.

"SpongeBo..." He said real loudly until we shushed him. "Sorry, but hey, it's SpongeBob." We all went over to him in his glass bowl trap. He beamed.

"Guys!" He said in an excited whisper. "Boy, am I glad to see you all. What are you doing here?"

"We're here to save you, silly." I told him. He beamed again.

"Ooh, guys, I want you to meet my new friend, Flip."

"Hi." The sea turtle greeted. We all greeted him back.

"Flip's been helping me, trying to escape, and keeping me company."

"That's good," I said to him. "So, are you ready to escape?"

"As ready as I'll ever be!" He looked at Potty. "Who's he?"

"I'll explain later." Potty told him. "But you all need to go now before..."

"Ooh! I have more SpongeBob characters!" Said a voice. We all turned around, and gasped. It was the diver! He had Chris and Steve with him. "Thank you, boys!" I looked madly at Chris.

"Sorry." He apologized. "He saw right though us." Steve ran in front of them.

"Please!" He begged. "Don't hurt them!"

"Oh, don't worry, kid." The diver assured him. "I will never want to hurt them. I just want to keep them forever, and show them off to Patchy, and the rest of the world!" He laughed.

"Well, they don't want that. They're here to take SpongeBob back, go home, and return to their normal lives in Bikini Bottom."

"No, I want them, so they're all staying here!" The kids gasped.

"You can't do that! You have to let them go."

"I can do what I want, kid. When people see that SpongeBob and friends are real, I'll make millions, perhaps more!" Potty turned to all of us.

"He's gone crazy!" He squawked to us. "RUN!" He didn't need to tell us twice. We all ran immediately. The diver tossed the boys to the floor.

"I think not!" He said, chasing after us. Both boys stood up, and tried to stop him.

But he was too clever, and outwitted us all (well, it doesn't take a lot to outwit Patrick.) He grabbed us all. We struggled in his strong grip. Mr. Krabs pinched him in his claws. He winced, but didn't let us go.

"You have to try better then that!" He said, then looked at the kids. "Meanwhile, I have somewhere for you and your brother to stay."

"What are you going to do to us?" Steve asked. He grinned mischievously as he dropped the sea critters in the bowl, and chained me to the wall.

"You'll see." He grabbed them. They complained, but he didn't let go. He looked around.

"Now, where is that darn bird?" He shrugged it off. "Oh well. I have what I want." He dragged the two boys off, despite their constant complaints.

"I'm sorry, SpongeBob." I told him sadly. "We tried to save you, and now look. We all need saving now."

"Cheer up, Sandy." SpongBob reassured me. "At least we're together, but yeah, unless a miracle happened, we're all doomed."

"I wanted to stay back." Squidward said to himself. "But, no!" He sighed. "Why must I aways get stuck in these situations?"

"Where's Potty?" Patrick wanted to know. Patrick had a good question. Where was that marionette parrot?

"That's a good question." I told him. "I honestly don't know, but hopefully he's safe. Hopefully the diver doesn't harm those two boys."

"Yeah." Patrick agreed. "They're all so nice. I'll miss them. In fact, I miss them all already, despite just meeting them recently."

"You miss a toilet, Pat?" SpongeBob wanted to know.

"Yeah, I do."

"Lad, we have some explaining to do." Mr. Krabs said to the sponge.

"About toilets?" Patrick questioned. Squidward threw up his arms.

"No, not about..." He said, then sighed, "Never mind."

"Never mind about what?"

"Just forgot I said something."

"Okay. Forget about what?" Squidward just groaned.

Chris

The crazy guy threw my brother and I in his closet. We turned to him.

"Our parents are going to find out about this." I told him. "Then you'll be arrested."

"Yeah!" Steve asserted. "Arrested because you're crazy. I mean, what sane person locks up two innocent kids in their closet?"

"I do if it means to keep me from being arrested." The crazy guy answered.

"Yeah, well, you'll still get arrested because they will find out." I said to him. He turned to me.

"Shut up, kid. I'll let you out...maybe never!" He did his crazy laugh, then shut the door. My brother and I both pounded on the door, shouting our protests. But it was useless. I stopped. My brother kept pounding, shouting.

"Cut it out." I told him. He stopped, and looked at me. "It's hopeless. No one's going to get us."

"But we can't just stay here." Steve stated. "We have school. Summer's in a month, and I don't want to spend all summer in a crazy guy's closet. We have to do something."

"I know, and we will."

"What?"

"I don't know okay? Let's just think." He then said something unexpected and weird.

"Potty." I was disgusted.

"Not now, Steve. Can't you hold it?"

"No, I mean Potty, look!" I looked. Sure enough there was Potty outside of the little window up above on the far wall near the ceiling behind piles of boxes.

"Help me open it." We moved some things to stand on, and we both opened it a crack.

"I'll go get help." Potty declared. "I was about to go when you two opened the window."

"Okay, hurry up." I said to him. He flew off.

We closed the window, and got down onto the floor again.

"Okay," Steve began. "I have to go for the real potty now." I just sighed.

Potty

I flew and flew, looking for help. I saw a lot of people to ask, but everyone will just question me. And I don't have time for that.

Fortunately, I made it all the way to the beach again, and saw Tim. At least I think it was Tim. I don't know. All of these seagulls look alike. I didn't care though. I just flew to him.

"TIM, TIM!" I yelled to him. He looked at me."I found you; are you Tim?"

"You know Tim?" He wanted to know. I sighed.

"You're not Tim, are you?" He shook his head. I felt like an idiot.

"No. I'm his brother. I can take you to him if you want."

"If it's not a hassle."

"No, it's not a hassle. He's right this way. Come, follow me." I flew after him.

"By the way," The seagull said as we were flying. "You look funny. What's with all the strings attached to you?" I was annoyed at this.

"Just lead me to Tim."

"Okay!" We continued in silence.

A minute later, I saw Tim just hanging out on a platform. We flew, and landed by him. He saw us.

"Tim," his brother began. "This bird's asking for you. I'll leave you to it, then." He flew off. I looked at Tim. I could tell he wasn't exactly thrilled to see me.

"What do you want?" He wanted to know. "You stole my thunder, so now what? Going to gloat about it?" I was shocked about this.

"What? No! That does sound like something I would do, but no,I didn't come to gloat."

"Then why are you here?"

"I'm here for your help." Tim was puzzled.

"My help? What for?" I told him everything.

"So, now I'm needed?" He questioned when I was done.

"Looks like it. Look, you want to be a bigger part on this special anniversary story, and now's your chance. Are you going to take it, or blow it, and be a lazy bum?"

"No! I'm going to take it, and not be a bum. Tell me what to do." I thought of this.

"Good question. I was so busy looking for help, that I don't know how you can help." He did an eye- roll. "But don't worry, you'll help. We just need to think of something." An idea came to me then. "That's it! You can get all of your seagull friends, and we'll storm Norman's house, attacking him, while the others help SpongeBob and friends escape. Poor Norman won't know what hit him!"

"Okay, I'll do it. I'll gather them up. You just stay here until I get back."

"I will. Just don't take forever."

"I won't. I'll get all of the ones I can find on this beach." With that, he flew off.

I was an idiot! I should've gone with him. Now I have to wait for who knows how long, and I hate waiting, Oh well, I hope I can find something to do, or I'll die of complete boredom.

I spied a pebble on the sand, and thought of something. I picked it up with my beak, and threw it in the ocean as far as I could. It skipped for a total of four times before it plopped into the ocean. I picked up another to do it all over again.

I was about to pick up my fourth pebble when I saw something in the ocean. I squinted. Is that...? I ducked my head into the ocean, and it was! It was Pearl walking Gary and a worm.

"Hey, guys!" I greeted. They all stopped, and looked at me, confused. Pearl pointed to herself.

"Are you talking to us?" She wanted to know.

"Yes, I'm Potty." She was disgusted. I sighed. Why do I aways mention my name? I need a name change, that's for sure. But in the meantime, I told them all that was happening. Luckily I was a puppet, so I can keep my head under water for long periods of time.

"Oh no, how terrible." Pearl said when I was done. She then smiled. "But I'm sure you'll all save him, and bring him back safe and sound." It was my turn to smile.

"That's the plan."

"Good luck!"

"Thanks!" We bid our goodbyes, and she left with the pets. I brought my head above water, and continued to skip pebbles.

Gary

SpongeBob's up there! That didn't sit well with me, not at all. I looked at Mr. Doodles.

"We got to save them." He looked at me.

"What?"

"I know this may sound crazy, and I guess it is, but I just can't be here anymore doing nothing when my owner's up there. We're going to both go on land, and rescue him and all of his friends."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Gary

"Gary," Mr. Doodles started telling me. "I love you very much. You're a good snail and pet. I'm sure you'll make your owner proud, but what you just said right now, your plan to save your owner and his friends, is insane!" I sighed. "We can't go on land, they're eat us alive, maybe literally!"

"Look, I know it's nuts." I said to him. "But he's my owner, I have to do this."

"You literally don't."

"I do, look, I had a dream ten years ago that I'll rescue my owner." Mr. Doodles was shocked.

"You did?"

"Yes, I did. Anyways, I dreamed that the mayor awarded me with a medal. I was a hero, and it felt great. If I do this, that dream will become real."

"Okay, then, I support you. But why bring me into this? I wasn't in your dream, was I?"

"No, but I can't do this by myself. I need help."

"You will. You'll have Potty and his friends. That's plenty of help. You don't need me. I'll be overkill. You don't want that."

"Yeah, but, don't you want to be a hero as well? We have lots of help already, and we may not need extra, but we might. It won't hurt."

"I want to be a hero, but..."

"Then be a hero, give it you all. The mayor might award you as well. Mr. Krabs and Pearl will love you more than ever, as well as my owner for me if you do this."

"I don't know. I'm kind of nervous."

"I am too, but this is something you will fully regret if you don't do this for the rest of your life."

"Really?" I nodded.

"Trust me."

"Well, okay. I'll do this. I can't believe I'm doing this, but let's go save your owner and his friends." I cheered.

"That's the spirit, Mr. Doodles!"

"There's just a couple problems."

"Like what?"

"Like Pearl stopping us, and how are we going to breathe on land?"

"We're a snail and worm. We can breathe on land, as well as in the ocean."

"We can?" Again I nodded.

"Indeed we can. Now as for Pearl, we're going to have to run as fast we can...NOW!" And with that, I took off as fast as I could. Pearl was shocked.

"Gary!" She shouted. Mr. Doodles ran by my side. "Mr. Doodles; no, come back!" We ran and ran.

"I can't believe I just did that." Mr. Doodles said when we were on shore.

"You did." I just responded. "Now, let's go talk to Potty before it's too late. We turned around, and went to the parrot skipping pebbles. He saw us, and stopped.

"What are you two doing up here?" He wanted to know.

"We want to help." I replied. He was confused.

"Help?"

"SpongeBob's my owner, and I'm not going to let anything bad happen to him. I want him back home safe and sound." Potty sighed.

"Look, that's good and dandy, but we have a lot of help as it is. We've got this. We'll bring him back home safe and sound; him and his friends, I promise."

"We know you have a lot of help." Mr. Doodles said. "But a little extra might help. You just don't know. It won't hurt. Plus, it was Gary's dream ten years ago. In his dream, the mayor awarded him for saving SpongeBob."

"Really? Well, that changes everything then."

"It does?"

"No, just being curious here, but, was I in your dream ten years ago?"

"No," I answered. "but that doesn't mean you can't be a part of that dream. Please, I beg you, let me help. He's my owner. You'd do the same for yours, right?" Potty sighed again.

"Yeah, I guess. Alright, you two can help. It won't hurt. And like you said, we just might need you, maybe not, but maybe we do." I smiled.

"Thanks. You won't regret it."

"I hope not."

As soon as all of Potty's seagull friends all came, I let them in on the plan.

"Were we in your dream?" A seagull asked me. I rolled my eyes.

"No! I didn't know you ten years ago, so how in the heck can you all be in my dream? Plus, as I think about it, it was a vision from an enchanted mirror that shows you stuff you want to see in your wildest dreams."

"A vision from the future." Mr. Doodles said. I looked at him. "Don't you get it, Gary? The mirror knew what was going down ten years later. It predicted it, and looks like it predicted right. It all makes sense now."

"Whatever. Let's get this over with."

"Right." Potty agreed. "We'll tell you the plan in the sky. Come on. Crawl on my back." I crawled on his back, and we took off in the sky. Tim took Mr. Doodles in his talons, and he and the other seagulls all flew after us.

Chris

"They're back!" Steve piped up. I looked at the window, and smiled. Sure enough, Potty returned with the seagulls. And it looked like Potty brought Gary, and a seagull brought a worm. My brother and I got on our pile of boxes, and opened it a crack.

"Gary, you came to help!" Steve said to him.

"Well, of course, kid I never met before." Gary began. "He's my owner. I want to be sure that he and his friends are saved, and in order to do that, I have to take part."

"Plus, it was a vision he saw ten years ago." The worm added. "And you two probably weren't in it." We were confused, but didn't have time to ask.

"You kids still in this closet?" Potty wanted to know. "I'd thought by now you two would escape, and call for help."

"Steve had to go to the bathroom after you left." I told Potty. "So Norman did let Steve out of the closet."

"But when I was done, I was forced back here." Steve put in.

"I tried calling the police." I put in. "But the reception won't work in here."

"Aw, that stinks." Potty observed.

"It is." I agreed.

"So, will you and your friends help us out of here?" Steve questioned. Potty smiled.

"That's the plan." He thought of something, and looked at Steve. "Say kid, when you were brought out of here to go to the bathroom, what was by here? Something near the closet your boys are in, so that I can help you out of here when we storm the house." Steve thought of this.

"A coatrack." He said. "In the shape of an anchor." Potty sighed.

"Of course it is. Anyways, stay by the door. I'll have you and your brother out soon enough." I was confused.

"How?" I wanted to know. "The door's locked. You can't pick the lock, can you?" Potty looked at me.

"There's a lot of stuff you don't know about me, kid. Okay, get to the door. See you two on the other side." He and the others flew off. My brother and I went to the closet door.

"Think he can really get us out of here, Chris?" My brother wanted to know.

"Well, considering he can unlock windows with his beak, I have a safe bet that he can." Steve nodded in agreement.

"I have a safe bet he can too."

"You're just saying that so you can agree with me."

"Yeah, that and I know he can too." I rolled my eyes.

Potty

"Okay, everyone ready?" I asked the seagulls as we all gathered in front of the door. We storm the house as soon as he opens the door." All the seagulls nodded. I rang the doorbell with my beak, and we waited for the door to open. "Any moment now, guys." The door opened.

"Hello?" Norman asked.

"NOW!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. All of us then flew in as fast as we could. Norman screamed, trying to swat us away. He tripped inside, falling to the floor. Gary and the worm went to the room where SpongeBob and friends were after I told them the directions.

"This is my childhood nightmare; I knew watching The Birds as my parents went to bed when I was five was going to haunt me one day!" Tim, the worm, and Gary, plus some birds flew off to get SpongeBob and friends, some of them still were attacking Norman. I saw the anchor coatrack, and flew to the closet as I promised the boys. I began picking the lock with my beak.

A minute later, I unlocked the lock. The door opened, and the boys came out.

"I knew you'd come through for us." Steve said to me.

"No, you didn't." Chris pointed out. "You asked me, 'Is he going to do it?' Even after you said that you had a safe bet on him."

"Well, I just wanted to confirm it. Now I know, because he did it, and we're free." Chris groaned.

"You boys, go get SpongeBob and friends." I ordered them. "I'll stay here with the others and Norman if he tries anything shady." The boys agreed, and ran off.

SpongeBob

I saw Tim and the seagulls fly in. Immediately, I got excited, and touched the glass.

"Tim!" I cried. "You came back!" He nodded.

"And I brought my friends and family." He said. "Together, we're going to bust your guys out of here." My friends all cheered.

"Even Flip?"

"I'm afraid not." The sea turtle said. "I stay here." I frowned, as I turned to him.

"This is really goodbye then, isn't it?" He nodded.

"Gosh, I'm really going to miss you."

"Me too, but at least you get to go back home with your friends. That's something to be excited about, right?"

"Yeah, I guess. Still it would be awesome if you came with us."

"I belong here in this tank that's not meant for a sea turtle, but it's home to me."

"Whatever makes you happy." I smiled as I held up my hand.

"Well, goodbye, Flip. It's been really nice knowing you." He shook my hand with his flipper.

"Goodbye, SpongeBob. May you and your friends have many more amazing adventures in Bikini Bottom for years to come."

"You know we will." The two human boys from before then raced in.

"Hey!" I piped up. "You guys escaped from wherever Norman sent you."

"We were in the closet." Steve explained. Patrick was confused.

"Norman trapped two innocent kids in a closet?" Steve nodded. "That monster! You two must be very happy to come out of there." Again, Steve nodded.

"Meow." I recognized that meow, and grew excited once more. It was Gary, as well as Mr. Krab's pet worm, Mr. Doodles!

"Gary, you came to rescue me!" I said. My snail meowed in agreement. "Aw, you are such a good snail, and a sponge's best friend." He smiled.

"And Mr. Doodles, you're here too!" Mr. Krabs added. He grew teary-eyed. "I think I'm going to cry." Mr. Doodles smiled as well.

"Uh, I don't want to sound rude," Tim began. "But my friends and fam can't attack Norman forever, so if we go now, I think it'll please everyone." We all agreed, and my friends and I got out of the bowl with the boys' help. After waving to Flip one last time, and Mr. Krabs and I hugged our pets, we all made our getaway.

"Potty!" Tim announced when we went to a marionette parrot. I saw him before, but this was the first time that I noticed that he wasn't just a parrot. He was a puppet. Where were those strings coming from? I looked to see the puppet master, but didn't see anyone. Also, his name was Potty? What an odd name. Then again, I suppose SpongeBob is an odd name to some people and sea critters. "I have everyone. We can go now." Tim nodded, and called for the other seagulls attacking Norman.

"We can pack it up, guys!" He called. He looked at the screaming and frightened Norman. "I think that poor human had has enough of our torment. He deserves it in every possible way, but let's go now. We got what we came here for." The seagulls flew off all at once.

"My owner, Patchy is obsessed over you." Potty told me on the way to the door.

"Aw!" I marveled, blushing. "I have another crazed fan. I'm flattered." I then grew concerned. "He's not going to kidnap me, is he?"

"I hope not." Potty told me. "I wouldn't be surprised." I was so conflicted about this. "But don't worry. Crazy as he may be, he won't stoop that low, hopefully not. I'm conflicting you, aren't I? I'll shut up now. Oh, and before you say it, I know my name is silly. But, hey, your name is SpongeBob. Sorry, I'll shut my yak." We continued on.

But before that, Norman chased after us. We know he did because he screamed as he did. We all gasped. Gary then slithered as fast as he could to him. I grew wide-eyed, panicking.

"GARY!" I screamed. Oh, what is that snail of mine, doing?! And what will Norman do to him?! Gary then came back. This got me confused. Huh? My snail's coming back? I'm glad he is, but why did he go to him in the first place? Norman then slipped from Gary's slime trail that he left behind, and fell face-first on the floor. This made Steve chuckle and me smile. Now I knew why he went back. I hugged him again.

"Good going, Gary!" I complimented him. "I love you, boy!"

"Okay," Potty said. "Now let's.."

"Mr. Doodles!" Mr. Krabs called when the worm crawled towards Norman who was struggling to get up, but failing, and fell down each time he tried. This made both of us, along with most of us chuckle. "What in King Neptune are you doing?! He's down. Come on, don't overdo it. You don't have to be a hero; Mr. Doodles!"

"Oh, boy!" Said a sarcastic Potty. The worm went behind Norman, and bit him in the butt. Norman's eyes grew huge, and screamed. This made us laugh even harder, even Mr. Krabs laughed.

"You showed him!" He said as the worm came back to him. "That was completely unnecessary, but I'm glad you did it. You're a hero in my eyes." Mr. Doodles smiled.

"Okay, can we go now before anything else complexly unnecessary happens?" Potty asked. We all agreed, and left the house.

"Well, this is where we leave you." Potty announced when we were in front of the Pacific Ocean on the beach. I turned to them.

"Thanks for this everyone." I thanked them. "If it weren't for all of you, I'd still be trapped in that bowl. Although I really liked Flip, I don't belong there. I belong with my friends in the best place that I know, Bikini Bottom." Everyone marveled at that. I looked at Potty.

"Oh, before we go," I told him. "Where's the guy pulling your strings? I know you're a puppet. Real parrots aren't like you, or at least, you're not what Sandy described you as."

"That's not important." Patrick butted in. "The important thing is you're home with your friends, safe and sound." He looked at Potty. "But seriously, who's controlling you?" Potty sighed.

"You really want to know?" He questioned. Patrick and I both nodded. "I'll show you next we meet." This got Patrick really confused.

"We're going to meet up again?" Potty did his best shrug.

"Who knows? Anything can happen." Patrick smiled.

"Then I can't wait. How about tomorrow?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

"Okay, see you whenever then!"

"See you whenever."

"Chris." Steve said to him, Chris looked at him. "Remember that Mystery episode? If what Squidward said was true, we might be seeing new episodes of this show until 2039." Chris was confused at first, but seem to figure out what he was talking about. I brightened up when I heard my seahorse friend's name.

"Hey, I remember Mystery!" I said. "What a good seahorse. It's a shame I had to let her go. Wonder what she's up too these days." I was then confused. "What did Squidward say?" Steve turned to me.

"He didn't say the show will go on up front, but he said you and him will be working for 40 years, then you guys will die. It's 2019 right now, so in twenty more years from now, or from when that episode aired.."

"I hope we don't die in twenty more years, but that'll be awesome if I work there forever, won't it, Squidward?" Squidward sighed.

"If I knew we were being filmed, I would've kept my mouth shut." He said.

"But you didn't, did ye Mr. Squidward?" Mr. Krabs said to him. "Yay for twenty more years, or better yet, beyond!" We all cheered. Squidward didn't sound so thrilled, but I knew he was deep down.

We all said our farewells, then my friends and I all went back into the ocean.

"Mr. Doodles did that?" Pearl questioned when we were in front of Mr. Krab's house.

"Yup!" My boss replied. "He sure did." Pearl was impressed.

"Wow!" She took out her phone. "I got to text the girls about this!" She looked at Mr. Doodles and I, and smiled. "Good to see you guys back. When you two left, I was worried with fright. Didn't know what to do. After a while, I decided to text my friends to help me search on land. Now, I don't have to worry anymore. And I'm glad."

Gary

As my owners and his friends talked amongst each other, I slithered over to Mr. Doodles.

"Your owner was right." I told him. "What you did back there with that crazy diver guy was completely unnecessary. It was overkill. There's no point in beating a dead seahorse." I then smiled. "But it was funny."

"Thanks." He thanked me. "It was funny, wasn't it? I felt like I needed to do something though, to prove that I did something instead of going with you if you know what I mean."

"I know exactly what you mean. That's why I went back to`o and slipped him up with my slime."

"Guess we both beat a dead seahorse."

"I guess we did." Mr. Doodles then changed the subject.

"So, are you bummed out that your vision of the mayor honoring you with a medal didn't come true?"

"That would of been nice."

"That can still come true! To be a hero, that's anybody's best dream come true!"

"My best dream already came true."

"Really, what?" I looked back at my owner, and smiled.

"To have a truly awesome owner." Mr. Doodles awed at this. He then changed the subject again.

"Why would you want to beat a dead seahorse?" I looked back at him. "It sounds wrong, and if it's dead, why beat it some more? There's no need. I don't understand." I sighed with an eye roll, but told him anyway.

Potty

Later, Patchy and I were heading home from Norman's house. Patchy was disappointed.

"I can't believe Norman tricked us into thinking SpongeBob and friends were at his house." Patchy said. "I have a special place in my heart for SpongeBob, how could he do this to me?!"

"What a jerk." I agreed. I could have told him that I met SpongeBob and friends, but I didn't. Yup, I'm a stinker, what are you going to do about it?

"But, hey, this doesn't mean I won't meet him! Who knows? Maybe one day will be my chance. Maybe for a special occasion, like his birthday! I can already feel it in my bones, Just you wait, SpongeBob Squarepants, I, Patchy the Pirate, your biggest fan, will one day next you!" I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, boy!"

SpongeBob

We were in front of my house, when I had the urge to hug Gary again. He was confused.

"Meow?" He asked. I withdrew from him.

"Sorry." I apologized. "It's just that I'm so happy. I can't believe what all went down these past few days. I'm so lucky. I don't ever want to leave Bikini Bottom, well unless it's for fun, ever again. Here's for twenty more years, and beyond of me!" Gary meowed. After a while, he smiled.


End file.
